A Little Help
by Edengwen
Summary: Deleted scene from Officer Down (01x04) between Danny and Henry


**A Little Help**

Funerals. He hated them. He always did, and more so when the funeral was for one of their own. Sitting there in his dress blues, Danny was getting deja vu. And not the nice kind either. All he could think about the horrific day when he had to lay his brother to rest right next to his mother. Joe wasn't meant to die before him. He was meant to be the first to go. He was the eldest; he was meant to go first.

And now he was sat next to his father and sister saying goodbye to another damn good cop too soon. She was a mother and a wife. It just didn't seem fair. He had lost count the number of times he had to attach a cop's funeral. And more so when they had died in the line of duty.

They all walked a thin line when it came down to walking the streets. They all knew that, but to be gunned down on the street with no one around to help was what made this whole situation worse. But he wouldn't let her die in vain.

When a cop goes down, they all mourn for their loss. His grandfather and his father had drilled it into them ever since they were kids that being a member of the NYPD meant that their family got a lot bigger. And burying their own always hurt.

The one thing that he promised their fallen officer as the priest said his last pray was that those bastards who had taken her life wouldn't get away with it. Not as long as he was still breathing.

And soon it was all over, they had said their final goodbyes to a fallen officer. But her memory would remain with them; she wouldn't be forgotten. Like his father use to say, we always carry our fallen with us every single day so they wouldn't be forgotten. The sadness of losing them would remain with them, but their tour had ended and they were at peace. But they needed to make peace for their own and that meant catching those who were responsible for taking her life.

As Danny got up from his chair, he quickly bumped into a few other officers that he knew from other precincts and a few that he knew from two of the five boroughs that had attended. One of which was his little brother's TO. Renzulli was a pain, but Danny couldn't fault the man for being a good cop. Because he was. Joe always liked him, he always complained about him at Sunday dinner but he could tell that his brother respected him. And respected him for that reason.

"How can I get you off my kid brother's back?" Danny said jokingly knowing that Renzulli knew that he was joking. Jamie liked and trusted Renzulli, just like Joe. But in his heart, it felt like they were tempering faith allowing the same man who trained joe, train Jamie. Not that it was Renzulli's fault that Joe was killed it was just that he wished his brother had talked to him. He might have been able to save him.

Renzulli pulled his face. He was so use to Danny's comments that he didn't let them hurt him. And he knew Danny was only worried about his little brother. He would be too if one of his family had been killed by one of their own. But still he knew that Danny was only messing with him, he wanted to say something back but before he could Henry appeared at his side and it looked to him that he had a lot on his mind.

"Danny. Danny." That stopped any comment that he was trying to think of. He guessed that like him, Henry was worried about how losing another cop would affect the Reagan clan. He had heard how Danny had dealt with his brother's loss, and it worried him how he would be if he lost his last remaining brother.

"See you later" Danny called to Renzulli as he turned his attention onto his grandfather. He had wanted to catch a quick chat with Pops about the whole Happy Jack story. He needed something that he could use.

"See you," Renzulli called before heading out of the church. He needed to get back to the precinct and get ready for his next tour, to which he knew he would have to try to keep his men in line after losing one of their own.

"When was the last time you slept?" Henry asked as he and Danny started to make their way down the aisle towards the doors. To be truthful, to everyone, his eldest grandson looked like hell. And when a cop went down, he worried about his hot-headed grandson. The pain of losing Joe was still present in all of them but there were two people that still carried the guilt of what happened.

His son, who blamed himself for what he believed he did which was sending his son into harm's way. And Danny, who blamed himself for not making his younger brother bulletproof. In his mind, he had failed his little brother for not protecting him. For not working our that there were bad apples within the department.

Danny was tired, sure. But he was even more annoyed that his case wasn't turning out for the best at the current moment. It felt like he was running five steps behind the guys that did it.

"I'll get some sleep after I catch these sons' of bitches." Danny was angry, but he was frustrated.

"Hey!" Henry called hitting him in the arm as they walked. "You're in a church."

Henry felt the same about what those animals did to their young cop, but they were both in church. And it wasn't the place for bad language.

"Sorry." He forgot how hard Pops could hit, it was like he had been thrown back into his childhood with all the telling offs he use to get. He quickly performed the sign of the cross across his body before he got another slap. Henry chuckled knowing that his message had gotten through to his grandson.

As they passed a few officers stood talking, Danny turned to look at his grandfather, working out how he could ask his grandfather something personal hoping he wouldn't get his head screwed off.

"The old man came down hard on you?" Danny asked after he had gotten the call from the detectives that they had placed walking Harry Jack, he was surprised that his grandfather of all people would go and have a private chat with the father of a cop killer. But at the same time, he might know something that could help him.

"Enh..." Henry groaned, guessing that he should have known that his little visit would have gone the rounds. And that it shouldn't be a surprise to him that Danny had heard about his trip. "He's got a point." He said as they continued to walk towards the doors before stopping just before the door.

"You think Happy Jack is hiding the kid?" Danny asked. He had his own option but he wanted to see if he was the only one that though it.

"No. I gotta say no. I bet he doesn't know where Ricky is." Henry said, and saw the look in his grandson's eyes, which told him that he was thinking the same thing without saying the words.

"That makes two of us." Danny voiced for the first and as he heard the words leave his mouth, he quickly turned around and checked that no one was trying to overhear them. All he needed was word to get out that he had no new leads on a cop killer.

Henry looked at his grandson with worry, he knew Danny was taking this personally. He always took any case he was given personally but when it came down to one of their own, Danny drove himself into the ground trying to catch the killer.

"Listen…" Henry started but before he continued he quickly pulled Danny away from the door until they stood in the middle of the last pew before looking around to see if they were alone. What he was about to say couldn't get out, and he knew that he could trust Danny with anything.

"When you grab the kid.." Henry started but stopped trying to find the correct words to tell his grandson one of his many secrets, "...you may wanna do... a little persuading to get hin to talk. I've always found that it's good to know more about the guy you're trying to flip than he knows about himself."

Danny looked at his grandfather and knew what he was getting at. It was the one thing that made him more like his grandfather than his old man. They both had thick Irish tempers that had a history of making itself known.

"I'll take whatever you got," Danny replied hoping for some tips that could make Ricky, when he got his hands on him, talk.

Henry cleared his throat before speaking. "Back in the day, there was a case that we could have hung on Happy Jack. Only thing was…" Henry stopped, he had kept this secret for a reason but it was something that could help catch their killers.

"...he had killed a cop killer. So…" Henry finished but Danny quickly jumped in knowing what his grandfather was talking about but before he spoke he waited till someone past them before saying the words that his grandfather was finding it hard to say.

"So you dumped the case," Danny said, knowing that if given the chance he would do the same.

"Yeah, and now Ricky thinks he's gonna jump into his old man's shoes, but he's already crossed the line...that his father never would," Henry answered, out of all of his grandchildren, he knew that Danny respected him the most. Growing up, he found that he was closest to Danny. They would spend his weekends off playing sports in the park or the back garden. Taking trips into town or when he had to work, Danny would often drop in.

And for that reason, he worried about him the most. He was too much like him. Their temper was the same, and it normally caught them in a bind.

"Yeah...I got it." Danny thought over Pops' words. He knew what Pops' meant. Happy Jack had killed someone that every cop would want dead. And now that his son was a cop killer, he knew that every cop wouldn't lose sleep over taking him out with a bullet.

"See you Sunday," Danny called as he turned to head back to the precincts. He had work to do.

"Be on time," Henry called, knowing that with Danny's record it wasn't likely.

"I will," Danny called as he was able to get out of the church door which was blocked by other officers.

Henry laughed, knowing that Danny wouldn't be on time on Sunday. But hopefully, his experience with Happy Jack would help bring a cop killer to justice. Or in the morgue. He didn't care as long as no other officers had to die in order to catch them.


End file.
